Neil Nordegraf vs G5
by protector91
Summary: In one of his last evil acts, Gideon overhauled the video game station G5. When Neil discovers this he along with Stacey embark on an epic quest to restore G5 to its former glory. But with Gideon's influence in the shadows, you can bet this won't be easy.
1. There Is Another

**A/N: Let me start off by saying that this story is not going to be epically long like 'Scott vs. The Indigo Prophecy (And Other Things)' or 'Ramona's Other Job' are set to be. I can't give an exact estimate as to its length, but rest assured that this story has a definite beginning, middle, and end. The Gaming Dimension, which has been used in my previous three Scott Pilgrim fics, will not be featured in this story just to change things up a bit. **

**After reading three Young Neil centered fics (actually the only three Young Neil centered fics. correct me if I'm mistaken) I thought I'd try my hand at one. G5 is meant to be a fictional parody of the T.V. chanel G4 TV as is its staff to avoid breaking the site guideline forbidding the use of non-ficitonal/non-historical people.**

**For those of you who don't know what G4 TV is the short version of the story is that it was originally a tv channel geared towards video gamers that eventually sold out and became something entirely different. You can get a better explanation on Wikipedia. Since there are barely any fics about Neil I decided to use him as the protagonist instead of Scott even though the plot of the fic seems slightly more up his alley.**

**I'm not exactly sure if this chapter is as good as my previous Scott fics, but you guys will be the judges of that. So review if you wish. The time frame of the story is set after 'Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour'. References will be made to the movie if they suit the situation.**

* * *

**_Long ago in the land of Toronto, Canada a hero arose. His name was Scott Pilgrim. To some, including me and pretty much the entire cast of characters, he was regarded as nothing more than a slacker, who had no motivation to do anything serious in his life. That all changed when Ramona Flowers skated into his dreams. Instantly captivated by her, Scott needed to know more about her and soon got a lot more than he bargained for. Ms. Flowers had left quite a chain of evil exes that all wanted him dead to ensure Ramona never knew what it meant to be truly happy. Scott, however, rose up to the challenge and sent them all to their eternal doom. Many people believed him to be the best fighter in the Province, but they were wrong._**

**_There is another..._**

**_But before we get to the beginning of his epic quest we must first start out a little earlier. _**

* * *

**Another party hosted by Julie Powers**

**Theme: fictional characters**

"Remind me. Why do we keep getting invited to Julie's parties?" Knives asked Stephen. "She doesn't seem to like us and you two aren't even together anymore."

**Knives Chau**

**18 and a half years old**

"Believe me Knives. I often ask myself that very same question, but hey. A party is a party so I'm not going to complain about it. Nice costume by the way," he complimented.

"Thanks, Major," Knives said giving him a salute. Knives was dressed up as Chun Li and Stephen was dressed up as Guile.

"Nice costume indeed," Ramona said joining the three.

"This is weeeeird," Knives commented observing Ramona's Cammy costume. She even dyed her hair blonde to complete the costume.

"That's an odd color on you," Wallace said to Ramona finally breaking the Street Fighter chain of costumes though not by much. He was dressed as Sub-Zero.

"Scott begged and pleaded for me to dress like someone from Street Fighter. Did he put you guys up to this as well?" She asked Knives and Stephen.

"Yep. No idea why. Knowing him he probably came dressed as Ryu. Whole thing feels like a set up to a bad joke," Stephen said.

"Speaking of which, has anyone seen Scott or Stacey?" Knives asked.

**_We are Shatter Band! 1, 2, 3, 4!_**

**_Choose your destiny! Flawless Victory. Mortal Kombat!_**

"Does that answer your question?" Julie Powers asked the group as Scott and Kim began their cover of Mortal Kombat.

"You asked Scott to play at your party?" Stephen asked in mild shock.

"Yes. Given how Envy is half way around the world and whatever band you started in Volume 5 sucks, Scott was the last choice. Lesser of the evils I would say. And as for Stacey, she's being bugged by those three guys in the Boba Fett outfits over there," she said casually and walked away. The gang looked to where she pointed and saw three guys crowding around Stacey in her Princess Leia costume** (which costume you ask. You decide)**. She was rubbing her temples and looked very close to snapping.

"Come on Stacey. Just say the line," John requested of her.

"Leave me ALONE guys," Stacey ordered the three.

"And if we say no?" Michael asked.

"Yeah. What are you gonna do about it?" Jack questioned. Stacey was this close to kicking him in the balls when someone else stepped in.

"I believe the girl asked you to leave her alone."

**Dramatic standoff music slowly starts**

"Oh shit. I know that voice," Michael said slowly rising up his head. "It's…it's...not Scott Pilgrim," he said with a feeling of relief.

"Sure sounded like him for a minute," John said exhaling his held breath.

"Kind of looks like him too," Jack added. "What's his name again? Oh that's right," he said snapping his fingers. "You're young Neil." Neil was dressed up as Han Solo from Episode 4 of Star Wars. His eyes narrowed at that name.

"It's Neil," he said clenching his fists. The entire party had seemingly stopped and was watching this little exchange. "I'm giving you people one chance. Leave now and this won't have to turn ugly."

"Why don't you make us leave," Jack challenged standing by his two friends.

"Neil," Stacey said trying to pull him away.

"It's ok Stacey," He said calmly pulling his arm away. A small gust of wind blew through the window as the four continued to glare at one another.

"Michael. Take care of this guy," Jack ordered.

"Right," he obeyed as the **VS. **symbol materialized.

**Ready?**

**Fight!**

Michael took a charge and aimed a jump kick at Neil. Neil's grabbed a close by chair and swung it into him. The chair broke on impact flinging him into the crowd. The crowd shoved Jack back into the fight and he glared at Neil.

"Come on!" Neil taunted and they ran at one another. They collided and Jack shoved Neil back. Neil dodged his punch, grabbed his arm, and tossed him toward the couch. Neil sprinted forward and threw out a kick, which Jack evaded. Neil seized hold of the nearby lamp and chucked it towards Jack. He shielded his face with his arms, but left himself wide open to a kick to the center of his chest.

Jack stumbled back and grabbed John's hand. He spun him into the fray and John delivered a kick into Neil's nose. Neil fell back and crashed on the floor. Jack stepped forward past his colleagues and shot down his foot. Neil caught it and fought to keep it away from his face.

"Shouldn't someone help him?" A random bystander asked then noticed that all the other bystanders were recording the fight on their phones.

"This'll probably be on YouTube in less than a half hour," Wallace estimated.

"Wallace. What are you standing there for?" Stacey asked him.

"Wait for it," Wallace said and then Jack went soaring over the crowd crashing on top of one of Scott's amps. Neil jumped up and parried Michael's punch. He ducked John's left hook and slammed his knee into his face. As he went down Neil blocked Michael's next punch, then the next, and the next. He ducked and drove his fist right into Michael's gut making him gape and clutch it. Neil went for a follow up, but John tackled him from behind. He drove his elbow into Neil's back and then Jack came barreling through the crowd. He kicked Neil across the face and some blood flew from Neil's mouth and onto the carpet. The trio started wailing on Neil not even giving him a chance to stand up.

"What's going on here! ?" Scott shouted and the three all stopped mid-kick.

"Shit, it's Pilgrim!" Jack said backing away from Neil; his friends doing the same. Scott might not be the most popular or liked guy on the block, but most of Toronto knew he was a good fighter especially after what went down at the Chaos Theatre.

"You mess with my friends you mess with me. I suggest you guys hit the road before…"

**ZOOM**

"…that was fast," Scott commented. He barely saw them rush out of the party. He saw a slightly bloody Neil on the floor and reached out his hand. Neil took it and Scott pulled him up.

"You alright?" Scott asked as the crowd started to disperse like nothing happened.

"Yeah. Thanks for helping me out and all," Neil said starring at the floor for the most part.

"Your face. It's covered in blood," Scott observed.

"It's no big deal. See ya," Neil said before Scott could offer him more help and turned around. Neil walked through the crowd of partiers and outside to the balcony. He rested his hands on the edge and sighed as Kim counted Shatter Band in again.

After six volumes (not to mention a movie) of being nothing more than a supporting character Neil thought this was his one chance to be bad-ass. But one slip up and Scott had to come in and save the day. He even blew it in front of Stacey Pilgrim. Nobody, not even Wallace, knew that Neil harbored a secret crush on Stacey. He had descended into a dark place a year ago. He practically became a shadow of his former self; much like the character Sonic the Hedgehog with his recent games.

When he saw Stacey something clicked in Neil's head and the dark cloud lifted though the moment was totally over shadowed by Scott really addressing him as Neil for the first time ever. How Neil didn't know Stacey, given the amount of time he spent with Scott and Sex bob-omb, was still a mystery to him. Neil wasn't sure what Stacey saw him as. He knew she didn't like him like him, but he wasn't even sure if the were genuine friends or just friends because they know the same people. Well he just blew his one shot to get her to notice him so he might as well not mull over this any longer. It's a lost cause and Neil knew it. He figured he'd sneak out the party and quietly drown his sorrows in Zelda or Tetris or one of the many video games he possessed when he felt someone's hand cover his.

"Hi, Neil."

"Stacey." Neil was surprised to see her standing next to him. He wanted to open his mouth to say something, but no words came to mind. "Um. Hi," he finally got out.

_Hi? You and Stacey Pilgrim are finally alone and the only thing you can come up with to say is hi?_ Neil berated himself in his head.

"I just wanted to thank you for what you did," she said giving Neil a wide smile. He only continued to stare at her. "I could've taken those jerks down if I wasn't wearing this outfit. But it was still sweet of you to stand up for me." Stacey leaned forward and kissed Neil's cheek.

"Good night Neil," she said and walked back inside the party; warm hand slipping out of Neil's. He only gazed at her as she left and put his hand to his cheek. The spot where she kissed him almost felt like it was on fire. A smile slowly formed on his face.

**Neil Nordegraf**

**Status: Totally in love**

**epic background music**

It was then that Neil's mind was made up. He wasn't going to give up. Someway he would get Stacey to see him as more than a friend. And there isn't a thing on this Earth that's going to stop him!

**background music suddenly halts**

**A/N: Unfortunately Neil there is something that can stop you and that's the main plot of the story. But hey. You still have the sub-plot of this story to work that out. See ya then readers! **


	2. The Right Man

Neil opened the door to his apartment and let out a long yawn. He checked the clock, which read 2:30 A.M.

_I was out that late, _Neil thought walking down upstairs to his room. He heard Stephen snoring and stuck his head into his room. Stephen was sprawled out on his bed and his hands were moving like he was playing a guitar.

_Probably dreaming about Sex Bob-omb making it big again_, Neil thought again and headed over to his room.

He kicked off his shoes and jumped into bed without even changing. Though he felt very tired and could even feel his eyes getting heavier by the second Neil didn't want to sleep. Instead he reached over to his nightstand, took hold of his ancient Game Boy Color and started playing Super Mario Bros. There were time where he wished life were more like a video game. Look at the Mario Bros. and Link for instance. It was never established that they knew their respective Princess' previously in their original games and yet one rescue later and they've been together ever since. Well to a lesser extent for Link and Zelda. Actually it never has been specified how they feel towards one another given how every new Zelda game either takes place before or after the last with a new Link and everything on some occassions.

_Just how many Links have there been anyway?_ Neil wondered. Not even the most skilled Zelda fan could come up with a correct timeline to link all the games together.

Truth be told the previous year had been like a video game. The unlikely protagonist was Scott and the beautiful princess was Ramona. Chief difference being that Ramona wasn't useless in a fight and could hold her own unlike Peach. The big boss at the end was Gideon and by defeating the other exes Scott gained enough Ex. Pts. to take the G-Man down. Since then life has been pretty quiet and no one's complaining.

Neil passed the final castle and sent Bowser to his fiery doom. Neil set the game aside as the final 'cut scene' played itself out.

_That game used to be so much harder when I was a kid._ Neil thought as he started drifting off into dream world.

* * *

"Neil! We're gonna have company!" Scott shouted to his friend. Neil raced as fast he could down the detention block until he came up to the princess' cell. Neil opened the cell and his jaw dropped at what he saw. Sitting before him was Julie dressed as Princess Leia not in the outfit from A New Hope, but instead in the gold bikini outfit from Return of The Jedi.

**Neil Nordegraf**

**Status: Scarred for life**

"Really Neil?" She asked referring to her costume.

"What the Hell are you doing here! ? Where's Stacey! ?"

"In your dreams Neil," Jill said.

"What are you talking about? This is my dream," Neil said running a hand down his face. He couldn't even get the girl he wanted in his dreams. What was all that all about?

"Neil! They're coming through the front door!" Scott shouted.

"Come on," Neil said taking Julie's hand and pulling her out the cell. "Get down!" Neil shouted pushing himself and Julie to the floor to avoid laser fire. Neil fired his blaster taking down three storm troopers, but they were replaced by more in seconds.

"This is your dream and you couldn't imagine an escape route!" Julie shouted at him.

"I can't control my sub-conscious," Neil said back to her gunning down more storm troopers.

"Julie?" Scott said gawking at her then stared at Neil.

"Give me a break will you," Neil said pulling himself up.

"Move your assess guys!" Wallace yelled barreling past the group.

"Wallace the front is the only way out!" Scott yelled taking cover.

"Not after that thermal detonator I threw goes off!" He shouted disappearing around a corner.

"Damn it Wallace!" Neil yelled and raced off after him. The group made it around the corner and the detonator went off obliterating all the storm troopers, but also causing the entire room to cave-in sealing it off.

"Well that was real ****ing smart, Wallace! How the Hell are we supposed to get out of the detention area now!" Julie yelled at him.

"If it wasn't for us your worshipfulness you'd still be stuck inside that cell so I suggest you show us a little more gratitude," Neil fired at her.

"Is this any way to treat a princess?" Julie asked putting her hands on her hips.

"No, but lucky for us you aren't a Princess," Wallace said.

"Shut up. You know you aren't even supposed to be able to speak English," Julie pointed out to Wallace.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," Scott cut off before the argument continued any further. "If I'm Luke, Neil's Han Solo, Wallace is Chewbacca, and Julie's Leia… who's Vader?"

Right on cue the chilling sound of Darth Vader's breathing came into the detention hall; his trademark theme music slowly playing.

"Quick! Let's find another way around," Neil said, but then the ceiling collapsed in front of him cutting the group off.

"Anymore bright ideas?" Julie asked as Vader advanced down the hall. Neil, Scott, and Wallace instead raised their blasters and opened fire. Vader swiftly pulled out his light saber and deflected their blasts with one swift stroke. Scott pulled out his own light saber and charged Vader. Vader stopped Scott's strike and cut off his arm. Scott's cries of pain were silenced when Vader telekinetically tossed him to the other end of the detention hall. Neil continued to fire his gun only for Vader to block every shot using only his hand till he was within 5 feet of the group. He pinned Wallace and Julie up to the wall and then telekinetically gripped Neil by his neck. Neil's blaster cluttered to the floor and he starred in horror at Darth Vader.

_This isn't how things are supposed to turn out. The good guys aren't supposed to lose. _Neil thought.

"The force is with you Young Neil," Darth Vader said moving to take off his helmet. "But you are not a Jedi yet," Todd finished.

"Todd," Neil was able to whisper despite the choke hold.

"Bingo," he said as his eyes glowed evilly.

"Darth Vader's vegan? Well that explains the force," Julie commented.

"Silence!" He yelled and took hold of his light saber. Neil looked down at his blaster and desperately tried to pull it to him with the force.

"Weren't you listening to me?" Todd asked noticing this. "I said you aren't a Jedi yet!" He shouted and sliced Neil's head off.

* * *

Neil slowly opened his eyes and saw that it was around 11:30 A.M. He silently pouted and rolled onto his back disappointed that life wasn't any better in his dreams. Neil slid out of bed still in his costume and headed for the stairs when he heard some familiar voices.

"The band's going awesome Stephen. Soon we'll get just as much attention as 'The Clash at Demon head'," Scott bragged.

"Really?" Stephen asked not buying it.

"No, Scott's lying. We pretty much have about as much attention as we did as Sex Bob-omb," Kim answered twirling around her drum sticks.

"Let's get this practice off the ground. Count us in Kim," Scott requested.

"We are Shatter band! 1, 2, 3…"

"Kim? Why are you stopping? You love counting us in," Scott said to her.

"I thought I saw Neil at the top of the stair case for a moment, but now he's gone. I know he doesn't like us like he did Sex Bob-omb, but he still listens to us regardless. Is something wrong?"

"Not that I know of. It was some party last night though. Maybe he's still feeling wasted."

Kim set her drum sticks down. "Stay here guys. I'm going to check on him," Kim said. She ascended the stairs and heard the sound of a guitar being played. She entered Neil's room and saw him playing something that vaguely sounded similar to the theme of Sonic the Hedgehog 1.

"Hey Kim," He greeted.

"Hi Neil. Is something wrong? I'm sure you heard us downstairs. You never miss us practice."

"I've had other things on my mind," he answered.

"Like what if you don't mind me asking?"

"It's just that. I'm in love," he admitted. "And I'm not just using the word carelessly. Every time I see her I get this intense feeling right here," Neil said pointing to his chest. Kim wanted to tell him that he wasn't pointing at his heart, but decided to let him continue with his story. "I want to tell her how I feel. I really want to tell her, but there's something holding me back. I'm afraid that if I tell her and she doesn't feel the same way things just won't be the same between us because I won't stop feeling this way."

Kim raised an eyebrow. "Neil that is without a doubt… the most overdone and clichéd sentence I've ever heard come out of your mouth. You're going to let something as stupid as fear hold you back from something you want? Answer me this. What is the one thing that Link is most well known for?"

"The Tri-force?"

"The other thing."

"His trademark green clothes?"

"Guess again."

"He's left handed?"

"His courage, stupid," Kim answered knowing that she'd hit Neil if he gave another wrong answer.

"That kid always goes charging into battle against the most fierce of creatures. Did he run away when Ganondorf mutated into Ganon? Did he back down when Agahnim the dark wizard banished both him and Zelda to the Dark Realm? No he did not Neil. You have to face your fear like it's one of the bosses in your video games because the last thing you want is to wonder what life could've been. Life's too short for that kind of stuff you know?"

"Wow Kim. That was pretty good advice," Neil said.

"Thanks. Ironic isn't it. I can give others advice about love, but my own love life sucks."

"Don't think that way Kim. I'm sure there's someone out there for you."

"There was," Kim whispered leaving the room and going down the stairs.

"Hi Kim," Stacey waved from the bottom step.

"Stacey? What are you doing here?"

"Remember? You said we'd hang out after you're finished practicing," Stacey.

"Oh that's right," Kim said. "Well just take a seat at the couch. We won't be long."

"Is Neil home?" Stacey asked.

"Yeah, he's upstairs. Why?" Scott asked.

"No reason," she responded and headed for the stairs.

"So what's the new song you guys have been working on?" Stephen asked.

"Summertime," Scott responded.

**From the Scott Pilgrim vs. The World Soundtrack. Check it out. It's so... Amazing.**

"I'll leave you guys to it then," Stephen said clicking on the T.V.

"We are Shatter Band! 1, 2, 3, 4!"

_**I peeled off my face, I tore up my room  
I read my own rights and I filled them with glue  
I turned the commercial into a creepshow  
I peeped at the gods with their bodies all day-glo**_

**It's summertime**

The song faded into the background for Stacey during her climb up. Soon Scott's subpar singing was pushed from her mind by the sound of another guitar. She saw Neil gazing out his bedroom window playing a sad sounding song.

"Neil," she said. Neil stopped playing and looked at Stacey.

"Stacey," he replied.

"I didn't know you played the guitar," she said sitting beside him on the bed.

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me," he said smiling. Remembering Kim's advice he slowly moved his hand towards Stacey's and covered it.

_Ok she hasn't moved her hand. Maybe she does feel something towards me. Or maybe she's just being nice. This isn't the time to lose your cool Neil!_ He screamed in his mind.

Neil directed his eyes to his hand on top of Stacey's and imagined the tri-force symbol on it. Neil calmed down and felt more confidence rush through him. He interlocked his fingers with Stacey's and she smiled at him.

**Confidence Meter: 100 %**

"There's something that I want to tell you Stace," Neil said hoping his confidence wouldn't run out on him.

"Yes," Stacey said looking into Neil's eyes.

"Neil! Stacey! Get down here quick!" Scott shouted. Stacey shot out of the bed and her hand slipped out of Neil's. He followed her downstairs feeling disheartened at how the moment was ruined between them.

"What is it?" Stacey asked Scott.

"Look," he said turning up the T.V. "It's a new report. They said it has something to do with Gideon."

_"This man has seemingly come out of nowhere," a reporter said on the T.V. as the camera shifted to a man with short brown haird, dressed in sun glasses, black pants, a white dress jacket, and a dark shirt with the old Play Station symbol on it. _

_"I know you've all been wondering where I've been this past year," he said to the audience from a podium. His tone of voice sounded strangely familiar to the group. "But let me assure you that Gideon put his trust in the right man."_

"_His name is Hank Crypt," the reporter said. "The appointed successor of the late Gideon Gordon Graves. When Gideon died it was apparently depicted in his will that all his possession, assets, and other valuables including his hipster glasses be given to his chosen successor. That successor, however, was nowhere to be found despite repeated attempts to contact him. Now almost a year later he has resurfaced from who knows where. Being Gideon's successor grants him ownership of the chain of Chaos Theatres across all of North America as well as Gideon's last major buy-out before his death, G5 TV."_

Kim muted the T.V. and shook her head. "So let me get this straight. Gideon had a successor?"

"That's what the woman on T.V. said," Stephen responded.

"A successor that no one seemed to know about?"

"Seems like it," Scott said.

"A successor that just conveniently happened to show up after being missing in action for over a year?"

**Alright Kim we get it! An unknown successor isn't the most original of plot devices, but that's how spin off stories work! And these days it doesn't matter if something's clichéd. What matters is how the cliché is handled. Now back to the story.**

"What do you think this'll mean?" Neil asked.

"I don't know, but one thing's for certain if he's anything like Gideon it can't be good," Scott said.

* * *

**G5 headquarters**

"Good evening my new associates," Hank said strolling into the G5 headquarters. The entire room was dead silent. "Are you guys mad at me?" He chuckled taking a seat.

"We were doing just fine running things on our own," one of them spoke up. "Who are you to just stroll in here and act like you own the place?"

"Last I checked I'm Gideon's successor, dear Susan. That means… hmmm I don't know… I DO OWN THE PLACE!" He snapped at her. Susan jumped in her chair and almost fell over. "You want to know what I was doing that whole year. I was monitoring you guys and if Gideon were here he'd be most displeased with all of you. He always considered you to be his best business decision and I suggest you don't prove him wrong because even in death his influence still remains. Now you all better get your acts together if you know what's good for you," he threatened and left the staff room.

Hank went to what used to be Gideon's office and kicked the door open. He went to his desk and removed his sunglasses. He was told in Gideon's will that there would be something left for him in a safe in this office, but he had to find it on his own. Hank didn't take long in his search. He went to the painting of Gideon on the wall and pulled it back revealing a safe.

"Old-fashioned, but effective," he said inputting the combination, 7-7-7. The safe opened and a blue pixilated sword revealed itself. Hank touched it and the blade glowed in his hands.

**ALL STATS- X 8**

"You put your trust in the right man Gideon," he laughed evilly as the power coursed through him

**To Be Continued…**

**A/N: Just want to point out that Hank isn't an evil ex despite the stats increase being X 8. I'm praying that this second chapter was good buildup for what's to come next. Next chapter Neil begins his journey. Hope to see you guys then.**


	3. It Has Begun!

Stacey Pilgrim had never been one to believe in love at first sight. Heck she still doesn't believe in that sort of romantic crap. To instantly feel that deep connection with someone you haven't met previously. Yeah right. When it came to love Stacey was rather cynical about it; mainly because her last 7, or was it 6, boyfriends were all stolen by Wallace. She never could stay upset with that guy, but when she saw him kissing Jimmy back at Sex Bob-omb's Vol. 1 gig she was more than pissed. Why did she always have to pick guys that Wallace was always attracted to?

Things started to change when she first came into contact with Neil at the Chaos Theatre. She saw the way he was looking at her and the first thought that entered her mind was 'what the heck is he staring at.'

And yet after that moment Stacey ran into Neil more and more as time passed. She found Neil to be kind of dopey, but also cute. At times he even reminded her a little of Scott though a bit more mature. Then again everybody more's mature than Scott. She remembered how one day she ran into him playing a game of Resident Evil and saw him using Jill Valentine as his playable character. Neil said she was one of his favorite female gaming characters because she never needed to have her ass rescued. She just kicked ass. That comment made Stacey laugh. One thing Stacey noticed was that Neil usually seemed more relaxed when he was playing video games. Whenever she saw him without it he'd freeze up at the sight of her. In all honesty Stacey found that to be cute too.

Neil was also one of the sweetest guys Stacey ever met. Besides standing up for her the night of Stacey's party there was one particular date that still stuck with her. It was three and a half months ago and Stacey had just turned 20. After a wild night of partying with her friends, which included sneaking into the hottest club in town, she came back to her place piss drunk and ready to collapse on her bed. Before she could, however, she found a small box lying on it. Though it was killing her head to keep her composure she reached for the box and took off the card on the top. Mind splitting head ache aside she read it.

**Dear Stacey,**

**Before you ask, one of your roommates that didn't hang out with you tonight let me in so I could leave this. It might be a little geeky, but you never get anywhere in life by worrying about how things will turn out. Happy Birthday.**

**Neil**

Inside the small box was a handmade necklace with the tri-force of courage attached at the end. Stacey was surprised to say the least. She didn't even know Neil could make something this authentic. Then again there was a lot she did not know about Neil. Stacey did find it a little geeky, but she put it on and never took it off. That was the only part of that night she remembered perfectly.

"Stacey!" Stacey jumped out of her daydream and saw she was in the Second Cup. Her friend Anna was staring at her with her hands on her hips. "You've been standing there for ten minutes with this spaced out look on your face. What could you have been thinking about?"

"Um. Well," she stammered. "Did I mess anything up?" She worriedly asked.

"Relax. I had to work twice as fast while you daydreamed, but none of the customer's orders were neglected."

Stacey took a sigh of relief and refocused her attention on her job. "By the way. Have you seen Scott anywhere? He hasn't come in for his usual in the last three days," Anna asked as Stacey worked dilegently to make up for those dreaded lost ten minutes.

"Now that you mention it, I haven't. I thought he's been spending most of his time with Ramona. I guess I can check on him when my shift ends."

* * *

"You'll never take me alive copper!" Neil declared zipping past his 'Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit' competition.

**One Mile to Finish**

_Let's finish this, _Neil thought and activated his car's turbo boost. His car went from 200 to almost 300 in seconds leaving the cops and other racers behind.

"Nothing can stop me now!... Shit!" Neil shouted as his split second lack of attention to detail caused his car to collide with a truck. It was a spectacular wreck as his car went spinning out of control and then smashed through the barrier and went careening over the side of the cliff and out of site.

**Racer wrecked**

**Continue? 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1**

**Game Over**

Neil slammed his fists on the arcade screen in front of him and got up to meet Julie's not so friendly eyes.

"I shouldn't have to tell you that if you make one scratch on this machine I will hurt you badly," she darkly threatened. "This is this arcade's most popular machine since Scott wrecked the Split/Second machine and if this one goes this place might as well shut down. And if this place shuts down I'm out of a job."

**Fun Fact:**

**Need For Speed Hot Pursuit was converted into an arcade game as was Split/Second. Was the port legal? Technically no, but since the police never check the arcade out Julie shouldn't have anything to worry about.**

"Ok. Ignoring the extraneous information box, I thought you worked at the Second Cup," Neil said backing up a little.

"It's a little thing called multi-tasking. You might want to try it sometime."

"I can multi-task. I once participated in an online Street Fighter tournament while talking on my cell phone, all the while managing to stay alive on my hand held Zelda video game. And I won too."

"I meant in the case of jobs, stupid," Julie detested. "Sometimes I don't know how I've managed to put up with all of you guys," she mumbled going behind the counter.

"Julie. I'm saying this as a concerned friend… concerned acquaintance. I think you should get anger management classes. Or see a shrink. Might make you less of a bitch."

When Neil said that Julie grabbed him by the shirt collar and pulled his face close to hers. "You've got some guts saying that to me," she seethed through clenched teeth.

"A year ago I could never say something like that," he said imagining the tri-force of courage on his hand again. "I guess it's a new me," Neil added and pulled himself out of Julie's grip. He turned and left the arcade humming the Shatterband song 'Summertime.'

**Julie Powers**

**Status: What the **ck!**

Julie's cell phone broke her out of her stupor and she answered it. "Hello. Yeah I haven't forgotten to take my meds. Every three hours; I remember," she said and hung up with a frustrated sigh.

* * *

_I can't believe I actually stood up to Julie and lived to tell about it_, Neil thought wanting to brag about it to Stephen the second he got home. He walked most of the way thinking about Stacey Pilgrim and wound up walking into a bar. You think he would've seen it except he was completely zoned out.

"Oh look, mail," he thought when he reached his and Stephen's home. He opened the mail box and started cycling through the content. "Let's see. Bill, bill, bill, G5 Monthly, bill, bill…" Neil dropped the bills and held the issue of G5 Monthly in his hands. He could've sworn Stephen said he cancelled their subscription for undisclosed reasons and to not ask questions about it. Neil decided that since he was holding it in his hands he might as well take a look.

* * *

**5 minutes later**

There were no words to describe how Neil felt regarding what he just read. It was like an entirely different G5. Heck practically all the gaming programs were gone with the exception of 'That's Not Fair' and 'XY-Play' and even those shows were shells of their former selves.

"See you've gotten the mail," Stephen said from behind Neil still in his work attire.

"Something you'd like to tell me Stephen?" Neil asked folding his arms.

"Ok fine. When Gideon bought G5 the entire station went under a massive redoing. I heard he did it for the fun of it. I didn't want you doing anything stupid, so to ensure you never found out I lied to you about cancelling our subscription to the magazine and removed the channel from our T.V. Subsequently I've had to beat you to the mail for months now."

"Why didn't you just cancel the subscription? That'd be a lot easier don't you think?" Neil asked.

"I still like to read the magazine," Stephen admitted.

"And what do you mean by 'stupid'? Did you think I would march over to G5, confront Gideon, and demand he change the station back to its former self?"

"Why yes. As a matter of…"

**ZOOM**

"Fact," Stephen finished seeing Neil was nowhere to be found.

* * *

"Scott! You'll never believe what I just… found… out," he managed to finish, if barely.

"Hey Scott. Thought I'd check to see what you've been doing for the last three days," Stacey said and stopped in her tracks at the sight of Scott and Ramona's home. "What happened here?" Stacey asked out loud not noticing Neil was there at first.

"I don't know," Neil replied tossing aside the G5 magazine he took with him. "I just got here a few seconds ago," he said surveying the damage. The tables were knocked over; Scott's PS3, X-Box 360, and Super Nintendo were all laying completely destroyed on the floor. Somehow the red ring of death was blinking on the 360 even though the thing shouldn't even be functioning anymore. What's more, Scott's already wrecked and taped back together Bass was scattered in pieces across the room. There were also a plethora of bullet holes in several of the walls. The only thing in the entire living room that wasn't damaged was the laptop computer, which was sitting safely on top of the only intact table. Flashing on its screen were the words:

**Recording finished**

"That's convenient," Stacey said walking to the computer. "Maybe this'll shed some light," she said laying the laptop on the floor. Neil sat beside her and then they rewound the footage.

"And we're rolling Scott," Ramona said as her face appeared in front of the camera.

"Whoa!" Neil exclaimed at the sight of what Ramona's wearing.

"Who is Ramona supposed to be dressed as?" Stacey asked staring in unblinking disbelief.

"She's supposed to be Black Cat from the Spider-Man comics. Why she's dressed like that I don't know," Neil said with his eyes glued to the screen.

"Scott did mention that one of the parties Julie would be throwing involved your favorite graphic novel/comic book character," Stacey said. "For some reason I saw Scott go dressed as himself."

"You are sooo sexxxy," Scott said in a slightly drunken and slurred speech as Ramona straddled him on the couch.

"You've been a naughty boy Scott," Ramona said also sounding drunk before sucking his bottom lip. "A very, very, naughty boy," she repeated and they started to fiercely make out. Their clothes started to fly all over the place seconds later.

"Oh God! Fast forward! Fast forward!" Stacey shouted and skipped over that section.

"Wait! Stop there!" Neil said quickly before they missed it.

"Ramona, look out!" Scott shouted to her. Ramona flew back onscreen and crashed into the wall next to Scott. They were both wielding their respective power swords and the few clothes they had left on, were all scratched and torn.

**In Ramona's case she might as well be wearing nothing at… moving on.**

"She's too fast," Ramona panted. "I can't keep up with her."

"Got that right," a voice said off screen and then a woman ran onto the screen and practically bitch slapped Ramona across the face and back off screen. Scott swung at her, but she grabbed his wrist and tossed him off screen as well.

"Get him boys," the mysterious woman said and then gun shots could be heard from off in the background. Five minutes later the fighting finally ceased. Scott was on his knees with multiple guns aimed at his head. Ramona was being held up against the wall by the neck. The sound of clapping broke the silence and someone different stepped on screen.

"So you're the famous Scott Pilgrim that took down Gideon?" Hank Crypt said looking over Scott.

"Not an impressive looking one is he?" The woman holding onto Ramona said.

"No, but you know what they say Susan. Appearances are deceiving," Hank said spinning his pixel blade a little. "He did manage to defeat Gideon and he had the Glow on his side. That's a very powerful weapon as we both know."

"Why don't you just skip the villain speech and just kill us now?" Ramona asked him.

"Ramona!" Scott shouted.

"I'm not going to kill you guys. I have something better in store for the both of you. Take them both back to HQ," Hank said to Susan. She nodded and brought up a sub-space door. The armed men shoved Scott through and then Susan tossed Ramona inside.

"Bitch!" Ramona shouted from inside.

Hank and his goons followed suit and then the apartment was empty. "This all happened three days ago," Stacey gasped putting her hand over her mouth. "Do you think they might be?" She couldn't finish the sentence.

"There's no way," Neil said. "Hank even said himself that he wasn't going to kill them…unless he changed his mind," he stupidly added at the end making Stacey give out something that sounded like the cross between a sob and a sigh.

"But he's been dead before and he came back no problem," Neil tried to repair the situation.

"Stop trying to cheer me up Neil," Stacey whispered.

"Sorry," Neil apologized. "I can tell you one thing. He's not going to get away with this. At first I was going to pay Hank a visit to restore G5's glory. But now it's personal. I'll do whatever I can to bring Scott back. You have my word on that."

"Oh Neil," Stacey said and pulled him into a hug. Neil broke into a wide grin as he continued to hug Stacey. Her nervous breaths started to return to normal and she sort of broke away from Neil though they were still holding each other's arms.

"I'm coming with you," she suddenly said.

"Hold up. It might be dangerous," Neil said.

"I'm coming with you and that's final. What do you think Jill Valentine or Claire Redfield would do if Chris was in trouble?"

Neil sighed. "Alright."

"But how are we going to reach G5 headquarters anyway?" Stacey realized.

"Hold on," Neil said.

Neil sprinted upstairs and Stacey heard the sound of several things being tossed around above her.

"It's gotta be around here somewhere," Neil said from upstairs. "AHA!" Neil ran back downstairs carrying Ramona's new subspace bag.

**Purchased for the incredibly low price of $39.99**

***plus $40 shipping and handling. Add another $5 tax. Let's not forget the delivery people expect a rather large tip. Final price $100. Still cheap for a subspace bag in Ramona's eyes.***

"We're gonna try to fit in that thing?" Stacey asked Neil.

"You have any better ideas?" Neil asked her. Stacey shook her head.

"Let's do it."

* * *

**G5 Headquarters**

"Hi everyone! And welcome to "That's Not Fair!" The only television show that delivers you the top gaming cheats, tricks, and strategies for your favorite games," Susan said as they began filming the next episode when suddenly a sub-space door appeared from nowhere over her head.

"What the fuck!" She cursed and dove out of the way when Neil and Stacey fell through and landed on top of one another.

"Are you alright Stacey?" Neil asked her.

"Yeah," She groaned. "You broke my fall."

"Happy to help," he said taking Stacey's hand and helping her to her feet. "Thought we'd never get out of that place." Neil and Stacey spent around ten minutes wondering around lost in sub-space trying the wrong doors and ending up in various places almost getting left behind by the door as a result. It was like sub-space was deliberately messing with them.

"I thought we captured you!" Susan shouted at Neil. "Oh wait. You're not Pilgrim. You look a little like him though."

"Shut up," Stacey ordered. "Where is he?"

"I know you two. I read about you in Hank's reports. Out of all of Pilgrim's friends that could rescue him they sent the babies of the group?" Susan insulted and then started to laugh.

"Hey we're not the babies of the group. We're both older than Knives!" Neil shouted at her.

"I would've expected that fiery red head to come to Scott's rescue" Susan said ignoring Neil's comment. "What's her name? Kate?"

"It's Kim, bitch," Neil cursed.

"Not ashamed or afraid to admit it either," Susan said. "Take a break guys," she said to the staff inside the room. The confused crew shrugged their shoulders and vacated the premises.

"Since you two are here to attempt some sort of rescue I'm afraid I can't let you live," she snapped her fingers and then a barrier appeared from nowhere separating Neil from Stacey.

"Stacey!" Neil shouted banging on the barrier. Susan made a series of hand signs and then the words **'Cheat Activated. Enhanced speed'** flashed in front of her eyes. Susan ran like Kabal from Mortal Kombat and grabbed Stacey by the shoulders. With one toss she sent her flying to the center of the room.

"That's not fair!" Stacey shouted at Susan, who was smirking.

"That's the idea," she replied and then swung out a whip, which wrapped around Stacey's neck. Neil banged on the barrier even harder this time and continued to do so until his knuckles turned white. The whip got increasingly tighter around Stacey's neck, but she refused to collapse from the lack of air. She grit her teeth, took hold of the whip, and wrenched it clean off her neck. Stacey fell backwards coughing violently, but was relieved to have air flowing in her lungs again.

She had a nasty mark from where the whip had previously been and felt an intense anger start to blaze through her. She held onto the necklace Neil gave her for a moment and then stood up, quickly spinning around and throwing out her arm to block Susan's whip again. It wrapped around her wrist, but Stacey prevented Susan from dragging her across the floor with it.

"Who do you think I am? Do I look like some random girl you can just throw around?" Stacey asked as her voice started to rise.

"What are you then?" Susan asked struggling to pull Stacey back.

**"I'M A PILGRIM!"** Stacey shouted loudly this time and with a large yank, pulled Susan off her feet and into Stacey's fist.

A low sounding groan fell from Susan's lips from the punch and blood spurted from her mouth as she crashed to the floor. She stood up and faced Stacey head on.

"You're about to find out what happens when you mess with the people I care about," Stacey threatened.

"Oh I'm so scared," Susan said in a mocking voice. "Just remember," she made a few more hand signs.

**Cheat activated. Enhanced strength. **Susan slammed her fist into the wall taking out a good chunk.

"I don't play fair."

**To Be Continued… **

**A/N: And it begins. Not making any promises, but I'll attempt to not be so late with the next update. Given how I haven't updated 'Scott vs. the Indigo Prophecy' in a good long while that will be updated before this story. Just giving you a heads up. C ya soon!**


	4. It Runs in the Family

**A/N: Ok, so I lied on the whole "I'll see you in a week" thing. What can I say? I got distracted by other stories and of course the eternal bane to my imagination…College. Ok it's not that bad considering that I took a screenwriting class this semester plus another media production course…I'm getting off track. One or two things that happen in this chapter might remind you of a couple of things from my first Scott Pilgrim story "Scott Pilgrim and Knives Chau vs. The Arcade", but that wasn't intentional and just came up during my writing of this chapter.**

* * *

"You're about to find out what happens when you mess with the people I care about," Stacey threatened.

"Oh I'm so scared," Susan said in a mocking voice. "Just remember," she made a few more hand signs.

**Cheat activated. Enhanced strength. **

Susan slammed her fist into the wall taking out a good chunk. "I don't play fair."

"Stacey, be careful!" Neil shouted from the other side of the barrier.

"I can handle myself, Neil. Don't worry. I'm a Pilgrim remember?"

"Please. You saw me punch through a wall and you still want to fight me?" Susan asked.

"Not impressed," Stacey insulted making Susan laugh.

She snapped her fingers and a small gust of wind started to pick up from out of nowhere. At first all Stacey thought Susan was trying to do was increase the tension, but then she felt a sharp stab of pain run across her stomach. Stacey had a short gasp and she fell to her knees hanging onto her stomach as the wind increased in speed. Susan began to maliciously laugh; the wind having no effect on her at all.

Stacey put her hands up to cover her face and the wind sliced into parts of her wrist. She writhed in agony on the floor and all Neil was capable of doing was bang on the barrier in some vein attempt to break through. Stacey kept her body scrunched together in an effort to shield as much as she could, but cuts formed on her back and into a few exposed parts of her wrist. And then it all died out. Stacey unscrunched herself and took another gasp. They were no longer in the T.V. studio. They were at the top of…a skyscraper. It looked like something out of…

"Virtua fighter?" Stacey finished her thought gazing out at the impressive view the top of the building offered.

"Nifty feature wouldn't you say?" Susan asked cracking her knuckles.

"Where's Neil?" Stacey questioned her.

"You don't have to worry about him. He has a nice view of what's transpiring. Right Neil?" She asked waving into thin air.

* * *

Back at the Studio, Neil (still trapped behind the barrier) could only observe the action on a giant monitor at the back of the studio. It was killing him having to sit back and watch this transpire. Partly because he was crazy about Stacey and also because this is his story and he doesn't even get to be in the first fight.

**Neil, are you forgetting about the fight at Julie's party?**

"That doesn't count," Neil mumbled to the omniscient text.

* * *

As always the **VS. **symbolmaterialized between the two combatants.

**Ready?**

**FIGHT!**

The music from Sarah's stage in Virtua Fighter blasted in the back ground and the women rushed one another. Stacey entered into a slide on her knees avoiding Susan's hook at her face. Stacey grabbed Susan by the waist and body slammed her to the floor. Susan retaliated by kicking Stacey straight in her ribs. Stacey rocketed backwards to the edge of their fighting platform; almost careening over the edge. She managed to firmly grasp the edge and kept herself from falling to her death. Stacey's chest hurt like someone had hit it with a sledgehammer. It hurt to even breathe.

"Aww. I'm sorry. Did I kick you too hard? Hahaha!" Susan mocked. Stacey put a hand over her damaged ribs and concentrated. A small aura encircled her and then Stacey stood up to her feet; still panting, but healed some. Susan scoffed and titled her head.

"You've got a trick up your sleeve," she said.

"Sort of. I'm not as good as Wallace," Stacey said half stumbling over to Susan. She got in her face and smiled.

"But if it's a real trick you're looking for then try this!" Susan swung at Stacey, but she ducked and bit into her arm.

Susan screamed and tried elbowing Stacey in the eye. Stacey let go and dodged the attack and hit Susan in her teeth. Susan reeled back and Stacey took a powerful kick at her mouth dislodging one of her teeth from it.

"You little bitch!" Susan cursed and charged again.

Stacey did a quick hand stand, locked her legs around Susan's neck and dragged her to the floor. With a powerful squeeze, Stacey snapped Susan's neck; making a sickening cracking noise as it broke.

"That wasn't too difficult," Stacey said unlocking her legs from Susan's neck. She stood up and then did Sarah's victory pose from Virtua Fighter. "Now to figure out a way out…of…here."

A slow ominous score was rising in the background. Stacey turned around and saw Susan back on her feet. She took hold of her neck and snapped in back in place.

**Cheat activated: Extra life **

"That's not all," Susan said and made another series of hand signs. Stacey rushed her in an effort to interrupt the cheat, but she was too slow and a surge of energy shot of from Susan propelling Stacey backward.

First the words **"Strength Negated"** appeared, but they were replaced with **"Invincibility".**

"That is totally not…!" **WHAM!** Susan had taken a running start and kneed Stacey in the chin; a move right out of Virtua Fighter.

Stacey crashed onto the platform and Susan jumped straight up and brought her fists crashing into Stacey's ribs again. Stacey bit back a groan and shoved Susan off her. Stacey kicked her in the side of her head and then slammed her foot down on Susan's nose. Susan kicked Stacey in the chest and hopped back up. Stacey threw two blows at Susan's head, but aside from her head jerking to the left and right didn't seem hurt. Susan laughed in Stacey's face and side stepped her next punch and crashed her elbow into Stacey's arm. She followed up with a back hand to Stacey's left cheek.

**Bitch slap!**

Stacey wouldn't stay down. She balled up her fists and charged again. Susan mocked Stacey by standing perfectly still. Stacey rained a massive chain of attacks at Susan, which she smiled at.

**Block! Dodge! Parry! Counter-attack!**

Susan rammed her knee into Stacey's heart and the entire area flashed red and the music became much more dramatic. Susan stepped behind Stacey and smashed both of her fists into Stacey's spine. The area changed back to normal color as Stacey caught herself in mid fall. She had a hand over her heart and one holding onto her back. She was down on one knee and her breaths became shallow with every passing second.

Stacey threw a wild punch and Susan caught it, spun Stacey around, and dragged her into an arm lock. Stacey jumped up and linked her legs around Susan's neck like Scott did to Gideon in round 1 of their final showdown **(the movie. Not the graphic novel) **and slammed her back to the platform floor.

"Why won't you just give up! ?" Susan screamed shooting up. Stacey leapt into the air and rapidly kicked Susan's face like she was Liu Kang and kicked her in the throat and pissed her adversary off further. Punch after punch was thrown and nothing was achieved.

**Dodge! Block! Block! Left! Right! Right! Left! Up! Down! Spin! Ultimate move activated!**

Susan's super strength returned and she plunged her fists into the platform. She ripped out two parts of it and chucked them both at Stacey, who fell on her back and let them sail over her. Stacey stood, but Susan soared into the air and brought her foot down hard on the platform with such force that it broke part of it and launched Stacey into the air.

Susan jumped after her and pulled back her fist. Stacey braced herself and took the blow slamming her back into the platform. A massive hole formed from the impact of the crash and Susan fell back down to the platform aiming at Stacey. She rolled to the right avoiding the crash, which was even more devastating. The platform was almost broken in half from the blow. Susan sneered and snatched Stacey up. She held the sides of Stacey's head and bashed her own into it again, and again, and again.

**Pretty violent and this is only the first official fight of the story!**

The two females both growled at one another and bashed each others faces into one another simultaneously. Both recoiled only Stacey took it worse, while Susan brushed it off.

Stacey was back on her knees again. She couldn't take it any more. It would be so much easier to give up…no! Stacey put a hand over her heart again and could fell the tri-force necklace Neil gave her beneath her shirt. He had given her the tri-force of courage for a reason and she wasn't going to prove him wrong; except she had no idea how to win.

"Think. What would Scott do if someone was spamming cheats in a fighting…?" **BAM!**

Stacey dodged a sucker punch from Susan eating into a bit more of the platform. Stacey's legs could hardly support her and she stumbled backwards. She tried to keep steady and put up her fists in a defensive stance.

**Finish her!**

"GLADLY!" Susan announced.

Both combatants sprinted…well it was more of a half limp for Stacey. Susan smiled with delirious excitement as she readied for her next blow. Stacey took a deep breath and entered into another slide avoiding the attack. Susan stumbled toward the edge, but stopped herself.

Stacey stopped and both girls faced themselves. They executed their attacks at almost the same time, but almost wasn't good enough. Stacey entered into Sarah's bicycle kick and it hit its mark. Susan was propelled backwards over the edge of the fighting ring far from the reaches of the edge to save herself. Automatically, she felt all of her strength and powers drain from her body. It was then like a barrier was broken as there was a loud shattering noise and bits of what seemed like…well boundaries fell to the floor.

**RING OUT!**

* * *

"YES! YES!" Neil shouted triumphantly throwing his fists into the air.

The barrier vanished and allowing him access to the studio. He took one step and a portal formed a few feet in front of him. Susan plummeted out of it and crashed to the floor. Her body was flashing red and then she started to stir. She began pushing herself up when Stacey fell out of the platform and landed, feet first, onto Susan's neck. It made the sickening noise from when Stacey snapped her neck earlier and Susan was no more.

**Stacey Pilgrim wins! Extraordinarily far from flawless victory!**

"Screw you," She breathed and collapsed into Neil's arms.

"Don't leave me Stacey!" Neil pleaded desperately.

"I'm not dying Neil," she groaned. "I just need a minute or two to get myself together. Then I can try healing myself again."

"You were amazing back there Stacey. Even when she was spamming the hell out of those special moves and cheats," Neil praised.

"What can I say? It runs in the family," Stacey said beaming.

Neil aided her to her feet and Stacey glared at Susan. She gave her one last raged filled kick and sighed.

"Let's go find Scott," she said.

As Neil started to help her out of the studio there was a noise coming from the giant screen at the back of the studio. The two of them stopped and watched it open up. Revealed from behind it was a man chained to the back of the wall.

"Yes! After all this time someone has come to rescue me!" He cried out in exhilaration.

"I recognize you. You're the guy that hosted this show. Well before the dead girl over there. Cory…something," Neil said helping Stacey over to him.

"What are you doing chained up here?" Stacey asked.

"My last name isn't important," Cory said as his chains magically disappeared. He rubbed his wrists and sighed in relief. "You must be the one they spoke of."

"Who spoke of who?" Stacey asked.

"The prophecy! I heard Susan mention it every now and then while I was trapped back here. Apparently a bunch of old G5 fans swore that one day someone would barge in here and restore the network to its former glory. Apparently they were too lazy to finish their own 'prophecy', however. So in reality this fight could go either way."

"Can't you help us?" Neil asked.

"I can, but first you have to find the leader," Cory said.

"The leader?" Stacey questioned.

"Yes. Her name is Diane. She was the first of the staff to stand up to Gideon when he initiated his hostile take over. She has the best chance of leading the other captive staff members in taking back G5. Unfortunatly she's in another..."

"Don't. Finish. That. Sentence," Neil threatened. "Just point us in the right direction." Cory nodded and pointed to the exit.

"That'll lead you to the next studio, but I must warn you. There are far worse people than Susan among the League of Sell Outs. Your best bet is to try and remain as subtle as possible. Avoid the enforcers if you can. You know what? Hold on."

Cory ran up to the a table and grabbed two convieniently placed walkie talkies. He tossed one over to Neil.

"I'll monitor things from in this room. See if I can't pin point Diane's exact location. Once you leave I'm setting up a barrier around the area to keep safe."

"It's no problem. I've seen this happen in video games so much it's not a surprise to me," Neil said as he and Stacey headed for the door.

"Good luck," Cory wished and the door shut behind them.

* * *

"What do you think the enforcers could be like?" Stacey asked Neil while the barrier went up behind them.

"I don't know," Neil said. "But I think it'll be in our best interest to get out of the open before we run into them as a..."

"FREEZE! VEGAN POLICE" The Vegan Policemen from Volume 3 ordered.

"Poorly thought out, last second, cliffhanger," Neil finished his thoughts.

**To Be Continued...**

**A/N: I know, I know. This is Neil's story and yet he got side lined for the first official fight. Well he was going to engage in the first fight, but I felt like I should get Stacey's first fight out of the way, so she won't seem like she's just there for the ride. The Vegan Police were meant to be a reference to how "Cops" for some reason is being shown on G4.**


End file.
